The curly-haired girl picked up her backpack and opened the door.

“Thanks again Aethel, see ya tomorrow!” She yelled on her way out. Rather than waiting for a response, she headed out of her place of work at a brisk pace. She had an appointment today, and could not afford to be late. For months she had been saving up for a chilling cabinet. It was noon now, and at fifth bell, a surge technician was coming to install one.

As she made her way down the street she took notice of the people walking by. People-watching was something she really enjoyed, as imagining what sort of lives people lived was a fun pastime, and made the walk home feel a little faster. It was a beautiful sunny day, so there were a lot of them. Poor people, middle-class people and some that were obviously doing very well. The latter being fewer in numbers of course, as they often sent out servants to do their chores. Nonetheless, it was a street for all sorts of the city, simply called “The Square”. Booths with fruits, bread and various grilled meat ran up and down the street. There were tailors, jewellers, bars and cafés, like the one Kathy worked at. It was a sprawling city centre for all your shopping needs.

“Wanes! Fresh juicy wanes!” Someone shouted from her left. It was a large man with a heavy moustache behind one of the most decorated stands there. She couldn’t help herself. She was going to have a real meal when she got home, but she enjoyed having a snack on the way. She approached the stand. The turquoise, crescent fruits were evenly spread on nice paper inside a decorated glass cage. A small sign sat atop it, reading,

‘5 Wanes for 3 jacks!’

“How much for just one?” She asked the chubby man.

“That’ll run you eight iron pennies, madame.” The man said with his hands firmly behind his back. Kathy winced a little at the price. Wanes had always been expensive as they only grow in areas rich with surge concentration, but they were half a jack just last year. She considered this for a while until the man spoke up again.

“I know the price of wanes has been increasing as of late, so I can cut you a deal. Two wanes for one and a half copper jacks. That way, you’ll get the second one a penny cheaper, and you’ll have a snack for later as well.” The man countered her indecisiveness. Kathy let out an audible hum as she considered the new offer, and looked over the fruit. The freshness of a wane is pretty easy to determine, as they expel a sweet-tasting white powder when they are at the peak of their maturity. These were practically covered in it.

“It’s a warm summer after all. There's no better way to keep hydrated and energised.” The man was looking at her with a charming grin, a gold tooth gleaming in the sunlight.

“Alright, I guess I’ll have the second one for dessert later.” She said enthusiastically and began unbuttoning her bag.

“That’s the spirit!” The shopkeep responded and grabbed a pair of tongs hanging on the opposite side of the glass cage. As he filled a small paper bag with a pair of wanes, Kathy pulled up her wallet and grabbed two copper jacks. She snapped one of them in half and gave the man the money.

“Thank you kindly, young woman. Enjoy your wanes.” The man smiled at her as he handed her the bag. Kathy dropped the remaining half of the jack in her wallet and put both it and the paper bag in her backpack, but not before pulling out one of the wanes.

“Have a nice day!” She responded and continued down the street.

The salesman hadn’t lied. The first bite she took made her instantly certain it was one of the freshest, juiciest wanes she had ever tasted. So much so, that some of the juices started dripping down her cheek. She quickly brushed that away with the cuff of her white shirt, but she made eye contact with a man while doing so. He gave her a cheeky smile, and she felt herself blush and looked away immediately. The embarrassment quickly faded, however, as the flavour of it took up most of her attention. It was remarkable. The combination of the sugary powder on the outside, and the slightly sour, bittersweet juices on the inside was magnificent. It was a perfect wane. It quenched the rising need for water she had been feeling in the heat, and was a nice little recovery from the growing hunger in her belly. Before she knew it, she had eaten the whole thing and was left with a sticky hand covered in white powder. Nevertheless, she had planned for this, as just up ahead the road split and encircled a large fountain.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

The low walls of the fountain doubled as a bench, so she had a seat and waved her hands through the water. Her gaze fell on the statue atop the fountain. It depicted a broad-shouldered man scouting the horizon with a spyglass, back-to-back with a woman holding a chakram in each hand. It was the explorers Reginald and Elis. They had found this continent in the midst of chaos and saved humanity from utter ruin. Kathy couldn’t help but feel a pang of patriotic sentiment. As she studied the intricate stonework, the sound of bells quickly snapped her train of thought. Wide-eyed, she jumped off the bench and made a run for it. She was late.

Curls were pointing in all directions, and her dark skin glistened with sweat as she reached her apartment building. Luckily, the wane had given her a spike of energy, so she’d lasted all the way home and was fast enough for the technician to still be there. He was a burly man dressed in blue overalls, with a matching cap to shade him from the sun. He did not look pleased.

“Sorry… so sorry…I’m…” She managed to air out between her rapid breaths. She put her hands on her knees, trying to regain her composure and the man spoke up in a deep monotone voice.

“Well… you showed up at least. Let’s get this over with.”

He grabbed the handles of the two-wheeled trolley next to him that carried a cabinet as tall as he was.

“Yes…yes of course…just let me…keys.” She heaved as she fiddled frantically around in her pockets.

She lived on the ground floor, so getting the metal contraption into her apartment wasn’t an issue. The cabinet fitted perfectly beside her wood stove in the kitchen part of the living room.

“All set then?” Kathy asked eagerly, as hunger had started to consume her yet again. The faster she could get the man out of her apartment the faster she could make some dinner.

“I’m afraid not madame. The cabinet needs to be properly installed and calibrated before it works as intended.” He responded.

“Well, how long will it take? If you don’t mind me asking.” Not only was she hungry, but the thought of spending another minute in dirty, sweaty clothes with another person in her apartment was anxiety-inducing.

“Just a couple of hours. And I would appreciate it if you’d stay away from the kitchen area. It’s delicate work.” He stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh… alright then.” She was both disappointed and infuriated, but she couldn’t for the life of her let him know that. Imagine how embarrassing that would be. Nonetheless, she was exasperated. Not only did she have to wait even longer to eat a proper meal, but she smelled and was covered in sweat. She considered taking a bath, but laying there naked in another room with a stranger in her apartment didn’t sit well with her. She took a gander across the room and her eyes fell longingly on a bag containing a slab of dried meat and a couple of vegetables she had bought yesterday. Dinner had to wait for now.

In the end, she had decided on sitting there quietly, reading a book while the man worked. The occasional waft of body odour struck her while she read, and she was reminded of how disgusting she felt. She just hoped the man didn’t notice anything. Hours had passed now and the sun had set.

“All done.” The man proclaimed as he slammed a small hinged lid in place on the side of the cabinet.

“Great!” Kathy responded, a little louder than she intended. She got up to her feet and stepped to look at her newly installed chilling cabinet, leaving a little space between her and the technician so he hopefully wouldn’t notice her stench. The man pointed to a small switch on the side of the cabinet.

“This is where you control the temperature. Most folks leave it in the middle so that’s where I’ve put it as of now, but if you need it any colder, or less cold for that matter, you can.” He demonstrated by flipping it up and down, finally leaving it at the midpoint. Then he pointed to a small lever sitting further back.

“These are sturdy things, and usually perform well for many years without a hitch, but if something were to happen, you pull this.” He didn’t demonstrate this time.

“What does it do?” She asked.

“It blocks the flow of surge entering the cabinet. If pulled, a technician would have to come to open it up again. Don’t try to open it yourself if that happens.” He said seriously. He started packing up his tools and made to leave. Kathy’s mind started racing with ideas of what could happen if she did try to do that and something went wrong, but she didn’t ask.

They exchanged pleasantries and finally, she had the apartment to herself. Before doing anything else, she opened up the cabinet and stuck her hand inside, feeling a chill breeze tickle her fingers. She giggled with excitement and imagined all the different types of food she would be storing here. For now, however, it sat empty. She was just about to start cooking dinner before she remembered the second wane she bought laying in her backpack. She rushed over and grabbed it, anticipation building, and placed it neatly inside the chilling cabinet.

“A cold wane for dessert.” She mused, with a big smile on her face. The smile quickly faded to worry, however, as a clap of thunder sounded from upstairs.